Cycling for the blue and gold

Irish team improves under volunteer coaches.

Irish team improves under volunteer coaches.

May 09, 2006|JIM MEENAN Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND No scholarships, no training table, no pressure, no press. But don't think the Notre Dame cycling team adds the words "no fun" to that run of nos. For they know otherwise. In fact, they might argue cycling for Notre Dame is pure sport at its finest. "It's a lot of fun," said Mike Lavery, a junior from Bedford, N.H., who has been riding competitive road bicycles since the summer before his arrival at Notre Dame. "I really look forward to it. "Our spring racing season, a lot of it's collegiate racing. Everybody is friendly, and for people that have not raced before, it's a great place to start." Fellow team leader Matt Prygoski agrees. To him, racing provides its own strong, inner reward. "You really have to have a lot of motivation and drive to do this because you don't get much recognition, and you have to pay for a lot of it yourself," he said. "But it really is rewarding to see progress." Another beauty of the team is you don't have to be one of the top 100 or 200 players in the nation, as in football and basketball, coming out of high school, to participate. "When I got here it's the first time I did any serious riding," said Prygoski, a sophomore from Okemos, Mich. "I just got hooked on it. Once I started riding, I really liked it and once I got racing, that was a great experience." Considered a recreational sport at Notre Dame, meaning it is not under the auspices of the athletic department, the club team does receive financial help for hotels and gas money from the university. "Notre Dame helps us out quite a bit," Prygoski said. "We have to pay for own equipment." And with most of their racing bikes costing in the $1,000 range, it's no small price to pay, especially since most riders crash at least once during the six-week spring season. But as Prygoski and Lavery finished off an afternoon of working on corners under the watchful eye of volunteer coaches Bruce Gordon, 49, and Terry Martin, 54, of South Bend, it's a price they are clearly comfortable with. Practicing six days a week with practices running two to four hours sees the team ride to and around such places as Niles, Cassopolis and Buchanan as well as working on curves on South Bend streets near North Shore. The grueling work has only seemed to bond and improve the duo along with teammates Tim Campbell, a freshman from West Liberty, Iowa; Jonathan Weyerbacher, a junior from Boonville, Ind.; Geoff Gisler, a third-year law student from Atlanta; Tyler Baker, a freshman from Houston; Peter Nistler, a sophomore from Helena, Mont.; and Meghan Johnson, a freshman from Cranbury, N.J. "We've done really well this year," said Prygoski, listing a team time trial win at Purdue, not to mention his own individual win at Western Michigan University. "This year we have quite a few individual wins. "Typically in the past, we have had a lot of fewer people and not done as well." Gordon says he has seen major improvement in the team, some of whose members he met on a ride out of Pro Form last year. "They were in obvious need of some form and structure and been very good about taking constructive criticism," Gordon said. "The time in has really shown." And he and Martin enjoy helping them out. "They have been a great group of kids to work with," Gordon said. "It's nice to give something back (to cycling) when it is very well appreciated. Everybody says thank you after a session. It makes it very easy to do." Lavery says the coaches have helped a lot. "They have been good, pointing out a lot of tips, especially for people who don't know a lot about the sport," he said. "(Teammates) have shown a lot of improvement." Prygoski and Lavery were the lone Irish cyclists to reach B level. Only A level has nationals. Men compete in four levels -- A, B, C and D. Women compete in A and B levels only. For the Irish the season ended with the regionals at the University of Illinois at Champaign. But the future seems to have promise as the two team leaders may make the big step to the A division next season. In the meantime, they and their teammates enjoy what they are doing, including wearing the blue and gold ND insignia and Fighting Irish logos, riding for their school. "I definitely do," Prygoski said. "It's great to ride for Notre Dame, the program and the club."Staff writer Jim Meenan: jmeenan@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6342